The arrival of Sebastian at his house surprised Blaine. What surprised him even more was the angry look on the tall males face. "Blaine fucking Anderson," he started, then Blaine cut him off.

"Actually, its Devon. Blaine Devon Anderson. My middle name is not fucki-"

"Shut the fuck up and listen to me, you idiot," Sebastian snapped, fists clenched at his sides. He had a very serious look in his emerald gaze, and Blaine suddenly felt guilty. "What the hell would make you think youre hard to love? Are you fucking blind or just stupid?"

The Warbler grabbed Blaines arm and pulled him into his kitchen, sitting him at the island bar and rummaging through the fridge and cupboards as if he lived there. By the time he turned back to Blaine, Sebastian had two mugs and was adding heated milk to cocoa mix.

Those insistent green eyes narrowed until Blaine took a sip and nodded his thanks, then Sebastian was lecturing again. "Princess Hummel worships the fucking ground you walk on, you moron. And your brother would do anything to protect you. Did you know he threatened me? Multiple times, actually. Cooper would literally die for you, and happily. Youre fucking loved, Blaine. Dont ever think you arent." The tone was demanding, but Blaine wasnt convinced.

"My parents dont even care that Im applying to college. They dont want me to study music, so they dont care what progress Ive made or anything. They dont want me to be with Kurt. They dont…" he broke off and shook his head. "They might get their wish with that at least. Bas, you dont even know. Kurts been… hes just pushing me away. And I dont know what I did wrong and… I love him, Bas. But he doesnt even seem to care anymore and he wont even talk to me and…"

He took a deep, shaking breath as Sebastian rubbed a comforting hand up and down his back. "What if hes really having second thoughts? What if… what if he doesnt want to stay together when we go to New York? I mean, its college. Maybe he wants to, I dont know, play the field or something. Be free." Blaine sighed and dropped his head a bit.

"Blaine, listen," Sebastian spoke softly, still running that hand along Blaines spine. "If he doesnt open his eyes, maybe you should just set him free or whatever. But Im telling you, hes in love with you. If hes making you feel this bad, though, its not fair. You dont deserve that. And, no, Im not making a move for you. Were past that. I really do think the two of you are meant to be. I just want you to be happy, though. And this? This isnt you. This isnt anything close to happy."

The rest of the night was spent in front of the TV, watching super hero movies and eating pizza and ice cream and pretending their biggest troubles were not having parents around to stop them before they made themselves sick. It was oddly comforting, and the two passed out late enough that they slept through the first half of school the next day and both just decided to skip. There were more important things in life than one day of high school after all.

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Blaine wasnt sure what bothered him more: the fact that he could skip a day of school and only get a handful of texts making sure he was okay or the fact that Kurt was one of those barely interested textures. His boyfriend barely even noticed that he wasnt there, then he didnt even call or stop by or anything like that. All he did was send a are you alright? text. No baby no sweetheart no I missed you today… just the obligatory are you alright and okay see you tomorrow after Blaine replied.

It was like Kurt didnt care at all, and Blaine was constantly struggling between screaming and crying. He put on a brave face for classes, for the most part, but by the middle of January, he was damn near losing his mind.

Regionals were the first of February, and Schue had only just given up his original songs idea, so they still had no setlist as of yet. The jocks were getting irritated with Kurts lack of response to their taunting, as hed apparently put on blinders to everyone who wasnt some sort of college scout or advisor or whatever NYADA was sending. That just meant Blaine was more of a target, and after three straight mornings of being tossed in the dumpster, hed decided to show up half way through first period to avoid such a fate.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," he groaned when he pulled into the lot late and still saw two lumbering jocks by the dumpster. They were some lesser ranking boys, probably forced to skip class to catch him while Azimio and Karofsky kept themselves out of trouble. Still, they were big and Blaine was an easy target and he knew it. "What the hell did I do? What did I do to deserve all of this? Someone, please, tell me," he muttered into his steering wheel before gathering his satchel and getting out of his car, accepting what was to come.

Once his car was locked and he started for the school, the jocks followed and, even as he quickened his pace, Blaine knew there was no escape. Each boy grabbed an arm and they dragged him to the dumpster, easily lifting the smaller boy and throwing him in none-too-gently.

Something in a trash bag, maybe a broken bottle?, hit his brow and Blaine winced at the sudden burning pain. He raised his hand and touched the spot on his forehead, pulling away to see red on his fingers. Great. He was cut on his face, right through his triangular eyebrow, and with his luck it would probably scar. Now he had to go to the nurse and get bandaged up before he could go to class, especially since he didnt want the wound to get infected.

A shower, a change of clothes, and two butterfly bandages (since he refused to go to the hospital and the nurse thought he needed pseudo-stitches) later, Blaine finally got to his second class of the day, arriving a good ten minutes late and waving off the concern of some of his fellow New Directions members. Rachel was especially concerned, and at lunch, Puck offered to kick someones ass. Kurt cooed over him, but it felt… half-hearted. Blaine willed himself not to cry.

________________________________________________________

Despite his mind already being set on NYU, Blaine had still applied to other colleges so he had a backup option just in case. The first letter he got was from the local community college, stating that he was accepted with full scholarship into their honors program. He didnt even bother telling his boyfriend about it, since that had been a shoe-in.

Kurt and Rachel each got letters about auditioning as finalists for NYADA, which they both were thrilled about. Blaine had applied as well, though he was pretty sure Kurt had forgotten and he never bothered to tell Rachel since he didnt actually plan to go there. Hed also gotten a finalist letter. He tried to tell his boyfriend. Tried.

To Sebastian: Got a finalist letter for NYADA.

From Sebastian: Way to go, Killer. Thats a hell of a backup school to have!

To Sebastian: I dont think Im going to audition.

From Sebastian: What the… why the hell not? Are you insane, Blaine? You need to have backups and thats a good fucking school! Does this have something to do with Kurt?

To Sebastian: He didnt even listen when I told him about it. Hes a finalist too. I think Im just going to let him and Rachel have this one. I have plenty of other backups…

To Sebastian: Besides, Id be eaten alive there.

From Sebastian: You dont give yourself enough credit. Do what you need to, though. Just… Im here if you need me, okay?

Blaine sighed as he typed out a reply and packed up his books. Hed spent his lunch in the library instead of the cafeteria, not feeling up to spending time with the crazy seniors who were all moving on without concerns. This wasnt how anything was supposed to work out. He just felt… alone.

To Sebastian: Thanks Bas.

Hopefully Sebastian knew exactly how much Blaine was thanking him for. The Warbler had become his best friend, really. He texted him now instead of Wes, and Bas was the only one who understood things with Kurt. He wasnt going to tell Blaine he was dumb or that high school flings never last. He was just going to support him and put him back together if he shattered. If Kurt broke him.

It seemed more and more likely that Kurt would do just that, and Blaine found himself shutting in on himself more and more. He just wanted what they had over Christmas. He wanted that love that hed promised, and more importantly, he wanted Kurt to want that, too. Everything just felt so broken.

_______________________________________________________

Apparently the community college was very early with their early acceptance letters, because no one else had sent any letters out unless it was for a program with multiple stages (like NYADA) and it was driving Blaine crazy. Hed gotten all his applications in early and hed been very thorough as well. His essays were all intense and hed proofread them so many times hed gone cross-eyed. Still, he was nervous.

Blaine also had a lot of pent up sexual tension since he hadnt spent an evening with Kurt since just after break. The countertenor was always busy picking out audition songs or adding to his fashion portfolio or practicing his audition songs or shopping for more fabric for the clothes he was making for his portfolio. He just never stopped lately. It was exhausting.

It seemed like Blaine was developing a more intimate relationship with his hand than hed even managed when he was struggling through puberty. It was getting ridiculous, in all honesty, and he felt like he was about to cry from the lack of attention from his boyfriend.

The ex-Warbler had taken to joining every club he could find, even going so far as to create a couple new ones simply because he could. Soon, he had something to do every day after school and often even on the weekends. Kurt didnt understand where all these new interests came from, but Blaine didnt feel the need to explain, so life simply continued.

Mr. Schue decided that a Beatles setlist would be fantastic for Regionals, as the theme was forever. Most of the club actually agreed with him for once, and they even got Kurt to agree to a solo of a slowed down I Want To Hold Your Hand that had nearly brought most of them to tears. The group number would be a mashup of All You Need Is Love and Hey Jude.

They were still deciding on the third number, considering solos and duets and even a trio featuring the unholy trinity. There were so many options that Blaine figured theyd e set no matter what they chose, even if the director did wait until the last minute as he so often did.

Even with Regionals mostly taken care of, Kurt was distant, and it was only a week before the competition. The NYADA auditions were set for two days before Valentines day, and somehow Blaine didnt think hed have his boyfriend back any time before then. He didnt know how he was supposed to last that long, but Kurt was surely not going to be any help in figuring that out, so he turned to his second best source of advice. When Sebastian didnt answer, he called Coop.

"Whats up, my favorite brother?" the happy voice answered the phone and Blaine rolled his eyes. Cooper was so ridiculous. Sometimes Blaine wasnt sure how the two of them were actually related.

Still rolling his eyes at the older male, Blaine answered Cooper with a smart reply. "Im your only brother, so Id better be your favorite," then he sighed and got into an actual conversation. "Coop, I just… needed someone to talk to. Mom and Dad are in… Bermuda? Cuba? Can you even go to Cuba without getting like… arrested or something? I dont know where they are, actually, but they arent here and Im trying not to get too worried about college letters and… they still dont even want me to go where I want. And all my plans for going to NYU involve Kurt and…"

His voice broke and Cooper sighed through the phone, sounding sad. "Things are still rocky, I take it? Listen, Squirt, you know youre gonna be fine even if you only go to New York with yourself. Youre a strong guy, Blaine, and you have big dreams." The clearing of his brothers throat kept Blaine from sniffling loud enough for Cooper to hear him. "And if you ever let anyone stand in the way of those dreams I will kick your ass, you got it? No brother of mine is going to lower himself to living solely for some boy. Youre way too good for that, Blainers." It was a speech Blaine needed to hear, and he smiled into the phone.

"Thanks, Coop. I love you too. And, you know, you have big dreams, too. I can still pinch the shit out of you if you give up on yourself," he promised, making Cooper laugh. The brothers caught up after that, smiling and laughing despite the many miles between them. By the time he was done with the phone call with Coop, Blaine actually thought he might be okay if something really did go wrong with him and Kurt.

To Sebastian: I think I actually owe my brother for a pep talk. Fuck.

From Sebastian: Just dont tell him that and youll be fine. Cooper isnt the smartest puppy at the dog park. ;)